The packaging industry commonly uses pallets which have goods stacked thereon which are secured in position by a plurality of pallet bands. These bands vary in number and position depending upon the type of goods and techniques used to create and band the pallets. In the past it has been typical that pallets from one location or facility are different from those made up at another facility. This has made the removal of the pallet bands by the user more difficult.
Some prior machines have been developed for automated de-banding (hereinafter “debanding”) of pallets. These machines have previously used a movable cutter head which moves over or along the pallets and cuts the bands. These prior machines have suffered from a number of problems.
One significant problem arises because the pallet bands may not be in the same positions from pallet to pallet. Most prior debanding machines use pre-programmed band positions to control the machine. When a pallet arrives that does not have the bands positioned as pre-programmed, then the machine may malfunction and human operator intervention will be required.
When the pallets are from the same or a similar source the banding positions may be variable but typically workable on an automated basis. However, when they are from different sources then the variations may be problematic enough that operations are hampered or prevented. In some situations the variations in the pallet band patterns generated by the same machinery are sufficiently problematic to be unworkable. In the past substantial operational assistance has been needed to keep debanding machines operational due to band positioning variations.
Another notable problem has been the difficulty arising if the overlay and underlay relationship of the bands changes for any reason. The overlay and underlay relationships between the various bands used on a pallet are important during removal because the bands may become entangled if not removed in the proper order. Although pallets may have bands which are in a similar positional relationship and have similar numbers of total bands, they may be shipped with varying overlay and underlay relationships between the longitudinal bands as compared to the transverse bands. Prior machines necessarily assume that the overlay/underlay relationship of the bands was the same for all pallets using the pre-programmed settings. Such pre-programmed setups required substantial amounts of time. Additionally, it may be that pallets from the same facility having the same type and band patterns may not have the same overlay/underlay relationships from one pallet to another. This necessarily causes substantial problems in automated processing of the pallets to deband the pallet for subsequent depalletization.
One prior approach to solving the underlay/overlay problem has instead used a system which cuts all bands simultaneously. This approach is may solve the underlay/overlay problem, but again is highly susceptible to any variations in the band pattern. If a different type of pallet is being processed, then substantial setup time and costs are needed to address the changed conditions.
These and other problems have not been fully and adequately addressed by the prior debanding machines. Other problems and considerations may become evident in the future as this invention is used more or further develops.